As the sunset flared bright pink and orange, hundreds of local residents turned to each other in front of a Baton Rouge church on Monday evening (July 18), spreading small flames from candle to candle.

The vigil at Healing Place Church on Highland Road was organized to support the family of Matthew Gerald, a 41-year-old Baton Rouge police officer, father of two, and Marine and U.S. Army veteran who was gunned down in the line of duty Sunday. But the vigils' speakers and those who attended also spoke more broadly about all of the officers killed and wounded in Sunday's shooting on Airline Highway.

"Baton Rouge has faced a tragedy these past weeks, and we're hurting," Baton Rouge Council Member Buddy Amoroso said before the vigil began.

Gerald's family attended the event, seated up front near a stage that held flowers and Gerald's framed portrait. Others in attendance said they knew him or the other officers personally.

Carlton LeGrange said Gerald and his father were longtime family friends who frequently helped out with LeGrange's catering business.

"We're just trying to hold their family together right now," he said. "They're struggling real hard."

He praised Gerald's passion for service. After serving three tours in Iraq, Gerald wanted to continue serving his community, so he became a police officer, LeGrange said. He had just joined the force last year.

Pam Ancelet knew Garafola: He patrolled her subdivision, and she frequently ran into him at the B-Quik convenience store where he worked a detail and which became the site of Sunday's fatal shooting.

She called him a "sweet, sweet man" who was "friends with everyone," recalling how he would stop to chat and play with her grandson and other kids in the neighborhood.

"It's just devastating," she said. "It's a nightmare that something like this could happen here."

For a half hour, the vigil's attendees were led in prayer as they passed boxes of tissues among the crowd. At one point, Pastor Jim Rentz of Healing Place asked the crowd to raise their hands to the heavens.

"Lord, if we've ever needed the Holy Spirit, we need the Holy Spirit tonight to comfort these precious families," he said.